Adjunct Professor of Film and Media StudiesExecutive Director, The Center for Environmental Communication and Education

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Richard is an Adjunct Professor in the Film and Media Studies Department at UC, Santa Barbara.

Previously, Hutton was Vice President of Media Development for Vulcan Inc. He oversaw Vulcan Productions’ feature film and documentary units and directed all of Vulcan’s media development projects, including initiatives in the education, museum and entertainment sectors.

Under Hutton's direction, Vulcan Productions produced a wide range of documentaries, including the six-hour series This Emotional Life; the Peabody Award-winning Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, a two-hour NOVA special chronicling the latest battle in the war over evolution; and the Emmy Award-winning Rx for Survival, a six-part series on global health – all with the WGBH Science Unit. Vulcan Productions also co-produced Strange Days on Planet Earth, a four-part series on the environment, with National Geographic; the Peabody and Grammy Award-winning No Direction Home: Bob Dylan; and the Emmy and Grammy Award-winning Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues. Hutton was also the executive producer of the critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated PBS series, Evolution; the Peabody Award-winning Black Sky: The Race for Space; and the blues concert film Lightning in a Bottle.

Feature films produced or co-produced under Hutton's direction include Humanitas Prize winner Where God Left His Shoes, starring John Leguizamo; the critically-acclaimed Hard Candy and Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas; and Independent Spirit Award winner for Best Picture, Far From Heaven.

Prior to Vulcan, Hutton was senior vice president of creative development at Walt Disney Imagineering. Before that, Hutton served as vice president and general manager of the Disney Institute, where he directed the transition of the organization from concept into an operating business.

Prior to Disney, Hutton was senior vice president, television programming and production, for WETA Television in Washington, D.C., and, earlier, Director of Public Affairs Programming for WNET Television in New York. There, his projects included the award-winning The Brain and The Mind. Hutton has authored or co-authored nine books and medical texts, as well as articles for national publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Omni and Cosmopolitan..